The Details

Written and directed by Justin Zackham (The Bucket List), The Big Wedding is not even interesting enough to be a disaster. A grumbly Robert De Niro occasionally pushes a few moments of shaggy life into this otherwise plastic comedy. All of the actors, young and old alike, look plastic, and the characters’ big revelations—pregnant, lesbian, had an affair, etc.—all feel plastic, too. The entire plot is based around a Big Lie: Before his wedding, the hero (Ben Barnes) must pretend that his divorced adoptive parents are still together for the benefit of his puritanical biological mom, visiting from Colombia. It’s brave enough to introduce a truly mixed family, but not brave enough to make them real.